PETALING JAYA: The current generation of Malaysia’s men’s and women’s singles shuttlers are still finding it tough to rise to the occasion, with performances falling short at lower-tier international tournaments.

At the ongoing Canada Open in Markham, Malaysia’s challenge ended in the quarter-finals with the exits of Eogene Ewe and Wong Ling Ching.

Eogene was beaten 6-21, 21-11, 9-21 by Canada’s Victor Lai in the men’s singles, while Ling Ching narrowly missed out on a semi-final spot after losing 21-17, 20-22, 15-21 to Vietnam’s Nguyen Thuy Linh in the women’s singles.

Earlier, Justin Hoh and K. Letshanaa also made early exits in the tournament.

Despite being seen as rising prospects, these players continue to struggle in lower-ranked events and will need to raise their game significantly to close the gap on the international stage.